The Incident at Relay 314: Database
by NAFB
Summary: I decided to move the timeline and technology database into their own section, so readers who just want the story can have that now.
1. Timeline

**_Timetable on the history of the ME races_**

Disclaimer: Anything I have not altered is taken from the official Mass Effect Wiki and not my own work!

Years are Earth years for the sake of comprehension. No in-universe reason here.

13,000 BCE

The Turians discover agriculture and begin to develop a civilisation around this time.

6000 BCE

Seeking to escape the imminent explosion of their sun, an alien race constructs an AI-managed starship equipped with supercomputers containing a virtual world, into which one billion of the aliens transfer their consciousnesses. The starship begins a journey throughout the galaxy which lasts for the next 8,000 years.

1800 BCE

A supernova propels the Mu Relay, the only point of access to the remote Pangea Expanse, out of position. Concealed somewhere in the dense nebula formed by the supernova, the relay's position is effectively lost for centuries. Later, the Rachni rediscover the relay.

268 BCE

The Asari discover Prothean ruins on the moon of Thessia. A before then mysterious inscription in the main temple of Athame is found to match the Prothean signs in the ruins, revealing the involvement of extrathessians in early Asari history. Many devices from the ruins on the moon are subsequently brought to a secret archive near the temple.

204 BCE

Exploration of the relay network eventually leads the Asari to the huge Citadel space station at a hub of many mass relays.

113 BCE

A Salarian asteroid mining expedition discovers an alien derelict on the fourth planet of their home system. Studiyng and reverse engineering the technology leads to the discovery of the mass effect and element zero. Eight years later a science vessel detects a gravitational anomaly in the system's Oort cloud. Upon investigation it is found to be a mass relay.

109 BCE

The Turians discover the mass effect when they excavate alien ruins on a planet in their home system. A signal from the ruins leads them to an inert mass relay at the outer edges of the system. They activate it and begin to explore the relay network. Multiple colonies are founded in the following decades. The direct route from Palaven to the Citadel is interrupted due to a gap in the network. This is the reason why the Turians discover the Citadel so much later than other races.

96 BCE

Tuchanka, the Krogan homeworld, enters the nuclear age. In a global conflict, weapons of mass destruction are released, triggering a nuclear winter. In the resulting devastation, Krogan society devolves into a collection of warring clans.

53 BCE

The Salarians discover the Citadel and open diplomatic relations with the Asari.

 **49 BCE: Founding of the Citadel Council**

The Citadel Council is formed. The Asari and Salarians together colonize the Citadel and establish it as a center of the galactic community, led by the Council. This year is also known as 0 GS, the beginning of the Galactic Standard (GS) timeline. As a gesture of openness with their new asari allies, the Salarian Union opens the records of the League of One. Under threat, the League responds by assassinating every member of the Union's inner cabinet; Spacial Tasks Group operatives then hunt down and eliminate the League.

37 BCE

First contact is made with the Volus. Eventually, the Citadel Council commissions the Volus to draw up the Unified Banking Act, which establishes a standard galactic currency known as the credit and links all galactic economies. This greatly simplifies the flow of money, leading to an economic boom.

22 - 05 BCE

The turian Unification War occurs. The increasingly isolated and xenophobic colonies on the frontiers of turian space go to war with each other. After years of fighting, the Turian Hierarchy sweeps in and pacifies the remaining factions. Animosity between turian colonies continues for decades.

08 BCE

The Council grants the Volus the honor of being the third species with a Council seat. While they have little military power and fewer high-population colonies than the other two races, they are an economic powerhouse and the leaders of the big Volus banking and trading clans are amongst the most powerful individuals in Citadel Space.

07 BCE

First contact is made with the Batarians. They are granted an embassy a decade later. Due to their isolationist tendency and their practice of slavery, which is illegal in Citadel space, they never get a seat on the Council. Relations with the Council remain peaceful, but cool. They adopt the credit system and trade with the other races, but only sparsely. Some batarians that do not want to live in the Hegemony are asking for asylum in Citadel Space, but the Hegemony watches its borders and keeps legal emigration to a minimum.

02 BCE

The asari discover the Elcor home system and help the elcor locate and activate their nearest mass relay. With the beginning of the Rachni Wars they are granted an embassy and establish a regular trade route to the Citadel.

 **1 - 87 CE: The Rachni Wars**

The Rachni, a species of highly intelligent hive-minded insects, are discovered when a Citadel expedition opens a dormant mass relay leading to their star systems. The rachni prove to be hostile and begin a war with the rest of the galaxy. All communication attempts with the rachni are ignored. Forced in a war against a common enemy, all races cooperate for mutual survival. The Batarian Hegemony forms a military alliance with the Citadel Council. This marks the start of the "Common Era". Elcor heavy weapon squads prove to be effective against the Rachni hordes, but are too few in number to turn the tide. As a consequence of the unprovoked agression by the rachni the activation of new relays becomes strictly regulated. It is feared that new relay routes could open new avenues of attack for the rachni or lead to contact with another agressive species.

04 CE

After the loss of over a hundred colonies the Rachni advance is slowed down, but not stopped. The economy of the known galaxy is solely focused on military production. Over the following years, the Rachni can be repelled in some instances, but projections show that a long term victory is unlikely.

09 - 28 CE

The war drags on for almost two decades. A further 34 colony worlds fall to the Rachni. A colonisation program far away from the frontlines is enacted to compensate this, but it will take decades to reach its full effect. Plans for sublight sleeper ships are made in case of a Rachni victory. In the rare cases when the allied species are on the offensive, weapons of mass destruction are increasingly used against worlds occupied by rachni forces. Even former colonies are devastated, the need to reduce the number of Rachni taking precedence over any hope to repopulate them in the future.

28 - 87 CE

The salarians make first contact with and uplift the primitive Krogan manipulating them into acting as soldiers for the Citadel Council. Outside of the irradiated environment of Tuchanka the Krogan poulation explodes, bolstering the allied armies with their large numbers. The krogan prove able to survive the harsh environments of the rachni worlds and pursue the rachni into their nests, systematically eradicating queens and eggs. The tide slowly turns and with the industrial might of several desperate species dedicated to the production of ships and weapons the rachni are pushed back. The advance is slow though, since the rachni army is still huge.

87 CE

The rachni are pushed back to their home system. Its only relay is cordoned off by a huge fleet and all rachni ships in the system are systematically hunted down and destroyed. The rachni homeworld is rendered completely lifeless by asteroid bombardment. The rachni are declared extinct. While some consider this an unforgiveable crime, decades of war and over 26 billion casualties amongst the Citadel Species have eroded moral standards to the point where a majority sees genocide as an acceptable solution. Historians will later describe the Rachni Wars as the darkest period in known history. In gratitude for their aid during the Rachni Wars, the Council rewards the krogan a new homeworld. With no casualties from constant warfare, it soon becomes overpopulated.

87 - 151 CE

The krogan begin to expand exponentially, colonizing many new worlds. Growing concerns about their expansion lead to the founding of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel.

123 CE

The Hanar are discovered after one of their explorer ships activates a relay leading to a Salarian border system. Only four years later they are granted an embassy, but do not pursue a Council seat. Relations with other races are generally friendly and they readily sign the Unified Banking Act. Trade is frequent, but much of their culture is difficult to understand for other species.

151 CE

Beelo Gurji, a salarian operative, is appointed the first Spectre by the Citadel Council.

 **151 - 183 CE: The Krogan Rebellions**

Krogan warlords leverage veterans of the Rachni Wars to annex territory from other races in Citadel Space. Eventually the Council demands withdrawal from the asari colony of Lusia but the krogan refuse. A preemptive strike is made on krogan infrastructures by the Spectres. The Krogan rebellions begin.

During this time of unrest and with most military assets fighting the Krogan, separatist groups, warlords and criminals fleeing the authorities establish colonies in several newly discovered star clusters, called the Terminus Systems. They have little in common, but sign a mutual defense pact should any Council affiliated power try to claim jurisdiction over them. Over the following decades the Terminus Systems become an assortment of dwarf powers led by warlords, pirate groups and independent colonies. Skirmishes between the countless factions are common and pirates based in the Terminus Systems occasionally raid ships in Council Space. Illegal drugs from colonies in this area are smuggled all over the galaxy. It is an open secret that Batarian corporations pay pirates and mercenaries from the Terminus Systems to abduct people in order to get non-batarian slaves. Such slaves are highly priced in the Hegemony. The Batarian government officially denies all knowledge of this practice.

162 CE

The Citadel Council makes first contact with the Turian around this time and persuades them to aid in the war. After the krogan respond to the initial turian offensive by devastating turian colonies with weapons of mass destruction, the turians vow to stop the krogan from ever becoming a threat again.

170 CE

Realizing that the krogan will never give in as long as they can replenish their fighters, the turians unleash a salarian-engineered bio-weapon known as the genophage on the krogan. The krogan population starts its decline.

183 CE

The Krogan Rebellions end, though scattered krogan insurgent actions continue for decades. The turians fill the military and peacekeeping niche left by the decimated krogan. The Krogan are confined to Tuchanka and forbidden from colonising other worlds. The Turian navy ensures that they abide to that. After the rebellions, the Krogan again splinter into various clans, constantly warring on the hostile surface of Tuchanka. The Citadel Conventions are drawn up in the wake of the conflict.

191 CE

The turians are granted a seat on the Citadel Council in recognition for their service in the Krogan Rebellions.

202 CE

The Volus become a military client of the Turian Hierarchy. The Hierarchy manages the defense of Volus Space. The small Volus navy is integrated into the Turian command structure. Economically and politically the Volus remain independent and retain their Council Seat. Economic ties between the Hierarchy and the Volus Protectorate grow very close, bolstering the Turian economy in turn for military protection.

208 CE

The Quarians make first contact with the Citadel Races. They are very sensitive to environmental influences and all of their colonies are under pressurized domes or subterranean. Quarians make extensive use of autnomous drones and VI programs for various tasks, more than any other species. In 216 CE the Quarians are granted an embassy. Quarian expertise leads to notable progress in VI and drone technology.

211 CE

Extensive and unchecked industrial expansion on the drell homeworld Rakhana begins taking a significant toll on the planet's environment.

220 CE

The first sightings of the Collectors are reported in the Terminus Systems. In Citadel space, the claims are dismissed as unsubstantiated rumors and tall tales.

 **242 CE: The Morning War**

The newest generation of networked Quarian VIs becomes self aware, calling themselves the Geth. Fearing a geth uprising, the quarian government orders them to be dismantled. The geth revolt against their quarian masters. While some quarians side with the Geth, arguing that the Geth are an artificial lifeform and their destruction would be mass murder, fear of the Geth grips a majority of the population. In the resulting conflict -known to the geth as the Morning War- the geth systematically drive those quarians opposing them from their own worlds. The quarians suffer high casualties in this short, but brutal war. The surviving quarians flee their former territory, only the survivors of the pro-Geth movement remain. Contrary to expectations, the geth do not venture outside the former quarian systems into wider Citadel space, instead isolating themselves from the rest of the galaxy behind the Perseus. Nothing has been heard from them or their quarian allies ever since. The Council is apalled at the attempted genocide of the geth. They not only refuse to intervene in favor of the Quarians, but close their embassy on the citadel. All trade agreements with the Quarian government in exile are declared null and void. The Quarians are forbidden to settle any new worlds. The survivors form the Migrant Fleet which since then travels around Citadel Space. The Terminus powers have made clear that the Migrant Fleet is not welcome in their territories. The fleet is recognised as an independent power by the Citadel Council. Quarians that wish to permanently settle on a world in Citadel Space have to become citizens of another state and must relinquish citizenship of the Migrant Fleet. In the fleet, different political movements have formed over time. While some regret the actions of the morning war and seek good relations with the rest of the galaxy, others still want to exterminate the Geth and reclaim their former worlds. Due to the events of the Morning War and their nomadic lifestyle, Quarians have low social standing amongst the other races.

While the Council maintains the viewpoint that AIs are artificial lifeforms and should have equal rights, research leading to their creation is banned due to the possibly catastrophic consequences. AIs are predicted to exponentially enhance their own capabilities, eventually reaching a "technological singularity". Past this point they would become incomprehensibly advanced from an organic perspective and could no longer be stopped if they turned hostile. It is suspected that the Geth will reach a point of singularity some time in the future. Their technological development is predicted to outstrip that of other species in the coming years. No one knows what exactly will emerge from beyond the Perseus Veil should the Geth decide to make contact again, but many view that possibility with unease.

262 CE

The drell make first contact with the Hanar. With their homeworld Rakhana severely depleted and no spaceflight capability, the drell were poised for a massive population crash by 268 CE. Agreeing to help, the hanar mount a large-scale rescue operation. With massive help from the Council they can evacuate approximately 37,5 million drell before Rakhana becomes uninhabitable. The remaining 11 billion drell on Rakhana gradually perish during these years, warring over the last reserves of food and water.

275 CE

The Yahg, an intelligent pre-spaceflight race, are discovered on the planet Parnack. Ambassadors representing the Citadel Council arrive on the planet and attempt to open diplomatic contact. After the ambassadors are killed by the predatory yahg, the Council ceases all contact with the yahg and declares Parnack off-limits.

 **289 CE: Present day**

A Turian patrol discovers the activation of Relay 314 by an unknown species.


	2. Humanity 2525: Spacefare and military

**This chapter contains an overview of the most common equipment used by the UNSC and the Insurrectionists. Changes from canon are intentional.**

 **1\. Starships**

Human ships use splipspace drives as their method of FTL travel. The maximum speed of current (as of 2525) slipspace drives is 3 lightyears per day. That is enough to get through UNSC territory in a matter weeks, but not enough to go just anywhere in the galaxy at short notice.

For sublight speeds, ships use hydrogen powered fusion torches. Military ships, and a few private organisations that can afford it, also use antiproton thrusters to achieve better acceleration rates when the need arises. Antimatter is costly and difficult to produce though, so supply is limited.

For protection, ships have a magnetic field against cosmic radiation, as well as a protective hull. Military ships also have armor designed to withstand weapon impacts, such as missiles and, within limits, kinetic strikes. The armor consists of carbon nanotubes, special ceramics and other materials. These are arranged in composite layersn to maximise protection. Having no access to element zero, human ships possess no kinetic barriers and rely solely on their armor.

The main armament of military ships consists of a huge number of missiles and a spinal mounted MAC. A MAC accelerates a 33kg projectile to 4050 km/s. Each projectile has kinetic energy equivalent to 64.68kt of TNT. MACs are hugely powerful but slow to recharge. The gun is actively cooled after each shot. The huge capacitors needed to fire it at full power need two minutes to be ready again, which makes this the minimum time between shots.

The slow firing rate of MACs is compensated for by their damage potential. Even the most heavily armored ships will be severely damaged by a direct hit. Battles involving ships with standard MACs generally go in favor of those who manage to land the first hit. Space battles between human capital ships mostly have two stages. The first stage consists of careful maneuvering to get an advantage over the opposition, accompanied by long range missile strikes that force the enemy to intercept them. The second phase are MAC strikes against the enemy ships. This phase usually is a quick and dirty affair.

Most rounds are designed to deform on impact. They release their kinetic energy into the target to maximize damage instead of overpenetrating and just leaving a small hole. There are several other types of ammunition though.

Excess heat is dumped into thermal storage devices and radiated off into space over time. The use of radiators and the long reload time mean that over a dozen shots can be fired before the firing rate needs to be slowed down. This makes heat only an issue in the most prolonged engagements.

Onager railguns and small lasers defend larger ships against small craft like fighters as well as missiles. Missile swarms are the second greatest threat to capital ships after MAC guns. To compliment their own defenses, they are usually screened by smaller support craft that help intercept incoming missiles.

 **2\. Orbital transportation**

On many planets with a large population and/or industrial capacity orbital elevators have been installed to facilitate efficient transport of goods into orbit. Shuttlecraft are used as well, but the space elevators are a lot more energy efficient. Space stations and orbital docks are used for shipbuilding, maintenance, supply and trade. While some capital ships can land on planets, this is reserved for emergencies due to the enormous amount of fuel needed to get the ship back into space.

 **3\. Infantry and vecicle weapons**

The most common vehicle mounted weapons are missiles and railguns. Lasers to intercept artillery shells and missiles are also common. Infantry weapons use chemically propelled rounds, due to the weight of railguns, which need a heavy-duty power source. The advanced propellants of the 26th century detonate much faster than their 21st century counterparts, and the gun barrels are sturdy enough to handle the forces. This results in higher projectile speeds, but not anywhere near those of mass accelerators. Bullet calibers range from 5mm to 15mm depending on the weapon. Ordinary bullets are made of nano cristalline tungsten, which is incredibly hard and dense. This is necessary to penetrate modern infantry armor. There are other types of ammunition, most notably several types of pogrammable "smart ammo" with varying properties. Heavy weapons consist of shoulder fired missile launchers, portable mortars and grenade launchers. They can fire a wide range of ordnance.

The standard infantry armor provides adequate protection against shrapnel and smaller caliber weapons. Direct hits from e.g. assault rifles will penetrate the armor in most cases. The ODSTs are equipped with heavier armor that provides better protection, yet they are far from invulnerable to standard weapons. The elite Spartans wear powered armor that protects against most infantry weapons. Sustained fire by a high powered assault rifle or a high caliber sniper rifle is needed to penetrate Spartan armor. Spartans are also able to keep fighting with injuries that would incapacitate a normal human. Numerical superiority or heavy weapons are needed to reliably bring down a Spartan. These elite soldiers are very good at avoiding such situations though. When the enemy arrives in force to crush them, a Spartan commando team is usually already gone, having completed their objective. Despite many deployments in the war against the insurrectionists only two Spartans have ever been killed in combat.

While it is evident that Spartans possess superhuman abilities, it remains unknown how they are able to do what they do. ONI tightly guards all information regarding the origin of the Spartans and everything pertaining to the process of their creation is hidden behind a veil of secrecy.


	3. Aliens 2525: Spacefare and military

**The relay network:**

Mass relays form a vast network across the galaxy. Only a tiny amount of it has been explored though. Given the spatial distribution of known relays, it is suspected that as much as 1% of all the stars in the milkyway may have a relay orbiting them. That would make over 1,000,000,000 relays, with the number of stars in the milkyway ranging between 100,000,000,000 and 200,000,000,000.*

This leads to some other questions: How many other spacefaring civilisations might be there? Are there other hub stations, other Citadels?

There also seem to be some gaps in the relay network. To get from Palaven to the Citadel for example, one has to take a detour, because on the direct route a relay seems to be broken or missing. This is the reason why it took the Turians so long to make contact with the rest of the galaxy. If this is due to natural causes or if these gaps have been made artificially is unknown.

Mass relays create a "tunnel" through spacetime between them. Objects within the tunnel have no effective mass and traverse it instantly. The technology behind this is still not truly understood.

 **Spacefare and Starships:**

Like nearly all vehicles, starships have an element zero core which enables them to alter their mass. In spaceships the core is big enough to nullify their mass completely, allowing them to achieve speeds faster than light despite e=mc².** Ground to orbit transportation is done by cargo shuttles with eezo cores, allowing for cheap and decentralized delivery of goods to ships and space stations. Ships can land on planets if needed, but only frigates and other small ships usually do so. Ships are powered by fusion generators and use fusion hydrogen torches. Military ships amd some others whose owners can afford it also have antiproton drives. The needed antimatter is difficult to make though, so supply is limited.

Warships of cruiser size and upwards are armed with a spinal mass accelerator as their main weapon and some secondary mass accelerator turrets. Some frigate types also have a spinal gun, but mostly they sport disruptor torpedoes or other missile types, which can be equipped with fusion warheads or varying sorts of more conventional armaments. GARDIAN ( **G** eneral **AR** ea **D** efense **I** ntegration **A** nti-spacecraft **N** etwork) laser systems serve as missile and fighter defense, and frigates have been known to use their GARDIAN systems for ground attack runs on several occasions. Since Lasers move at lightspeed, they cannot be evaded by anything moving slower than light. Diffraction limits their range, and continous use will overheat them.

Kinetic barriers are the first line of passive protection, followed by different forms of composite armor. Other than barriers though, any known armor will be breached by a shot from a spinal gun.

Disruptor torpedoes are the second most dangerous weapon in space combat after spinal guns. They temporary create a small singularity on detonation. Thus armor does not provide any defense, since the singularity warps spacetime itself in a volume around it. Barriers are the only viable protection, but a well coordinated torpedo strike can overwhelm any known barrier. They are very vulnerable to GARDIAN fire though and so are only used at close distances or en masse. Since they need eezo to work they are also expensive and almost exclusively used by regular military forces who can afford them.

Frigates are fast and agile, though lightly armed. They are utilized for patrols and reconnaissance. In larger engagements they form wolf packs to harass enemy ships or to screen the fleet from fighters.

Cruisers are workhorse of military fleets. They lead patrol groups, screen dreadnoughts in larger engagements and fight their counterparts.

Dreadnoughts range from 800 meters to one kilometer long, with a main gun going through about 90% the length of the ship on average. An 800-meter mass accelerator is capable of accelerating one twenty-kilogram slug to a velocity of 4025 km/s, which is 1.3% the speed of light every two seconds. Each slug has the kinetic energy of about 38 kilotons of TNT. The firepower scales with the length of the gun, so bigger dreadnoughts have stronger guns. Due to the high rate of fire heat builds up fast. Since heat management is tatically important, heat venting and -storing technology is continously improved. At present, a Dreadnought can fire dozens of slugs in quick succession before it has to stop firing for while, which usually means it jumps to FTL and vents heat in a safe location.

The Treaty of Farixen limits the number of dreadnoughts any of the signing powers can possess to a proportion of those the other powers have. This is meant to maintain balance and to prevent an arms race that could destabilise the political climate and ruin economies. As of 289, or 2525 by the UEG calendar, the turians have 37 dreadnoughts, the asari have 21, the salarians have 16, and the batarians have 6 with another under construction. In 2525, the UNSC has 24 Marathon-class cruisers which are considered the tactical equivalent of dreadnoughts.

Ships with element zero cores are highly maeuverable and due to kinetic barriers capital ships can survive hits from mass accelerators. Space battles between such ships are a highly dynamic affair with rapidly shifting formations. When the kinetic barriers of a fleet are weakening, the high firing rate of spinal guns means that ships can be destroyed in quick succession. Thus the losing fleet usually retreats into FTL as fast as possible to avoid wholesale destruction.

 **Ground vehicles and infantry:**

Combat vehicles are usually equipped with mass accelerator cannons and missiles. They are protected by composite arrmor and kinetic barriers. Their element zero cores make them highly maneuverable, and most combat vehicles, even main battle tanks, can be airdropped by ships or shuttles.

Infantry uses full body armor of varying protection value, broadly divided into light, medium, and heavy armor variants. Guns are handheld mass accelerator that fire small slugs at very high velocities, giving them a surprising amount of firepower. Ammunition is cut off an ammoblock that is big enough for thousands of rounds, making reloading not a concern during battle. Weapons need to cool down from time to time, but short, controlled bursts and weapons of good quality allow for nearly continous fire. Different modifications can be made to the ammunition with an addon to the weapon, ranging from emp rounds to the infamous polonium ammunition for a wide varety of situations. Mods can be easily changed even during combat, adding valuable versatilitiy to standard infantry gear. Heavy weapons include grenade and missile launchers that come with a wide range of ammo types.

 **Notable race specific information:**

 **Turians:** The Turians have the largest fleet and the largest ground forces in the known galaxy. Their ships have slightly more powerful weapons than those of other races and their troops are known for their discipline even under the most difficult circumstances.

 **Asari:** Some say they are the technologally most advanced race, closely followed by the Salarians. Their kinetic barriers are the strongest known and they introduced cyclonic barrier technology to the wider galaxy. While they have fewer dreadnoughts than the Turians, they field a big fleet of other ships. All Asari are biotic and their commando soldiers can use this to devastating effect. Their long lifespan means that they have some of the most dangerous combatants in the galaxy, rivaling the famous krogan warmasters.

 **Salarians:** Salarians favour espionage, sabotage and ambushes over open warfare. Their fleet is still relatively small compared to those of the turians, asari or humans but their ships are equipped with expensive cutting-edge technology to great extent. They also have more stealth ships than the other major powers. Their intelligence service, the STG, is universally respected and feared. The STG is part of the salarian military and their agents have often decided battles before they began.

 **Volus:** The volus are an economic powerhouse with a small military. They are a military client of the Turian Hierarchy and their forces are integrated the Hierachy command structure. The volus are methane breathers, so they have to wear pressure suits in most environments. This makes them vulnerable in infantry engagements. Due to their diminutive size they also lack in physical prowess. Their military excels in one field though: Volus bombers are the most formidable ships of their class and usually support turian ground operations or supplement attacking spacefighters with their durability and firepower.

 **Batarians:** The isolationist Batarian Hegemony does not disclose much about its military, though they abide by the Treaty of Farixen. There are persistent rumors that they have a huge arsenal of devastating chemical and biological weapons. The Hegemony does not comment on these rumours.

 **Elcor:** The elcor have a rather small fleet that primarily protects their colonies and trade routes. Their merchant fleet is much bigger though, and their trade with the other races has led to good relations with them. Elcor are slow, but very strong and resilient. While they dislike infantry engagements in the open, elcor marines equipped with thick armor and VI controlled heavy weapons make formidable opponents in urban and shipboard combat.

 **Hanar:** Their fleet is comparable to that of the elcor, with a strong emphasis on missile swarm tactics. Their many tentacles make them able to handle complex controls with higher speed and precision than other organic lifeforms and hanar pilots are famous for their skill. Physically unimposing and fragile, they make heavy use of combat drones in ground engagements. Their infantry weapons fire exotic ammunition types the hanar have developed to make up for their lack in raw power and often surprise their opponents. Many drell serve in their military and drell assassins are usually supplied with hanar ammunition, adding to their fearsome reputation.

 **Krogan:** The Krogan have no fleet and no central command structure. They are divided into clans which maintain their own respective forces and many krogans work as mercenaries throughout known space. Krogan are strong, resilient and most are seasoned veterans, having grown up in a warrior culture their harsh homeworld of Tuchanka. Individually, krogan warriors are the most effective infantry known. Krogan battlemasters combine the combat prowess of their species with centuries of experience and training, making them enormously dangerous individuals.

* * *

 _*This is mainly to clarify how huge our galaxy actually is, since people often seem to be ignorant of that fact. "They only control 1% of the galaxy, that's so small, yadda yadda..." It is actually a worldbulding mistake because it would make for a truly enormous civilisation, and what we see in the games points to a much smaller one, more like a few thousand inhabitated worlds overall, including rather small colonies. For comparison: The IoM in 40k has_ _"only"_ _a few million worlds, and it's huge!_

 _**Of course eezo violates thermodynamics and a bunch of other things, but one has to make concessions, as with artificial gravity and slipspace._

* * *

 **Author's notes:**

 **Zernio: Most of this is not going to happen. As stated, this is before the human-covenant war, and the Covenant does not exist in this alternate universe. First contact happens in 2525 and the UNSC will have the tech they had at that point in canon, aside from the improvements I made and described. Ideas and suggestions are welcome though.**

 **F13D:**

 **1\. The 600 ton slugs are way, way too slow to be used in combat against spaceships. This is a worldbuilding mistake in Halo canon, where ships move faster than the projectiles they fire. Which is frankly absurd. I changed the numbers to smaller, but faster projectiles that have the same firepower, as you might have noticed, but a much higher and more realistic range. And no, that 30 km/s is not a typo as some people claim. I ran the numbers on a 600 ton slug moving at 30km/s to see how much kinetic energy it would have. The numbers check out at the equivalent of 64,53 tonnes of TNT. So whoever came up with the original stats of the MAC did the math as well. Definitely no typo. My new numbers are also correct by the way, as are the canon mass effect numbers. I checked those as well to be sure.  
**

 **A went out of the window for similar reasons. It is said to be a titanium-steel alloy, and later titanium-tungsten. Real life tank armor is made of composites far superior to that crap since the 70s. I see no reason why they would be using titanium alloys for armor over 500 years in the future when we have better technology today. And an interstellear civilisation should be able to produce composite armor materials in sufficient amounts to equip starships.**

 **3\. "So this is not really a crossover". That's not yours to define, though you are entitled to your opinion. But so am I, and I happen to be the author, lol.  
**


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